World Robot Summit 2020 to be Held

NEDO and METI have been advancing efforts aiming to achieve a society where people and robots work together. As an initiative to this end, they have been holding a World Robot Summit (WRS), an international event combining competitions and an exhibition, aiming to [i] bring together the most advanced robot technologies from all over the world and accelerate technological development through competitions; and also [ii] show robots to the public as a means for solving current social challenges, raise public understanding of robots and promote implementation of robots in society. In October 2018, NEDO and METI held a preliminary competition called “WRS 2018” and will hold the WRS 2020 in 2020 as a main competition.

Outline of the WRS 2020

Title:

World Robot Summit 2020

Organizers:

NEDO and METI

Date:

For three days from August 20 (Thur.) to 22 (Sat.), 2020

Venue:

Robot Testing Field, Fukushima Prefecture

Note:

At this venue, a competition in the Disaster Robotics Category will be held.

Date:

For four days from October 8 (Thur.) to 11 (Sun.), 2020

Venue:

Aichi Sky Expo

Competitions will be held in each of the four categories: the Industrial Robotics, Service Robotics, and Disaster Robotics, and Junior Categories.

• In cooperation with the sponsors that have agreed on the purpose of the WRS 2020, NEDO and METI will offer awards, etc. to the winners of the competitions, the total value of which is scheduled to be 100 million yen or more, and will also provide some teams participating in the competitions with part of their travel expenses and other costs.
• NEDO and METI will open a call for team entries in the competitions on the WRS website.
  The period of the call is from June 28 to August 31, 2019. Successful team entries are required to submit an application by September 6, 2019.
  Entries in the Junior category are excluded. NEDO and METI will separately publicize the period of the call for entries in this category and other detailed information, taking into consideration summer school breaks.

In the exhibition, exhibitors will show robots to visitors as a means for solving current social challenges in an easy-to-understand manner. For example, exhibitors, as well as demonstrating robots at the exhibition site, will explain robots playing leading roles at specific sites in collaboration with municipalities and other regional organizations engaging in pioneering efforts for advancing robot utilization.

Robot and Artificial Intelligence Technology Department, NEDO E-mail: robotcomp2@ml.nedo.go.jp